UAE court sentences 57 Bangladeshis to prison for protesting against Bangladesh government

Three people are sentenced to life imprisonment and the rest receive a sentence of between 10 and 11 years in prison.

Jul 23. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Federal Court in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates, UAE) sentenced 57 Bangladeshi citizens to prison on Monday, three of them to life imprisonment and the rest to between 10 and 11 years, for participating in protests organized in the Arab country against the Government of Bangladesh, whose repression of the protests has already left more than a hundred dead.

The prosecution had accused the convicts of participating in rallies and riots that occurred in several areas of the UAE in which “public security was disturbed, the application of laws was prevented and public and private property was endangered”, in addition to disobeying security forces who asked them to disperse, according to the Emirati news agency WAM.

After considering that the facts have been sufficiently proven, the court has issued life sentences for three people, 11 years in prison for one more and 10 years in prison for the rest of the accused, who will be deported and their property will be confiscated once they have served their sentence.

The protests were a show of support for their fellow countrymen who have been demonstrating in Bangladesh over the past week against the adoption of a quota system for civil servant employment, which has now been suspended.

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has suspended the reinstatement of the country’s old quota system, which stipulated that 30 percent of civil service jobs were reserved for descendants of fighters from Pakistan’s war of independence, a decision critics, including student organisations, have said was discriminatory and favourable to supporters of the ruling Awami League.

The Supreme Court’s decision stipulates that 93 percent of the posts will be decided on the merit of the candidates in the competitions, which could calm the mood after protests that have challenged the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who imposed a curfew throughout the country on Saturday in response to the protests.